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NHS-funded independent prescribing will be rolled out in community pharmacies in England from autumn 2026, the Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) has announced.
In a statement published on 29 May 2026, the DHSC said: “Under the new contractual framework, pharmacists who hold an independent prescribing qualification will be able to assess patients and prescribe medicines directly, building on the success of the Pharmacy First service.
“This delivers on-the-spot care for common conditions and gives patients access to a wider range of medicines.”
NHS-funded independent prescribing is being introduced as part of the ‘Community pharmacy contractual framework’ (CPCF) for 2026/2027.
In a statement also published on the same day, Community Pharmacy England (CPE) said this was agreed through negotiations with the government, which comes with a £3.636bn funding package — an increase of 10.3% (£340m) from the previous year.
In its briefing on the contract, CPE said that pharmacist prescribers will be able to prescribe within the existing Pharmacy First clinical pathways and the pharmacy contraception service, and provide up to five new Pharmacy First prescribing-only pathways.
Pharmacist prescribers will also be able to prescribe an alternative item to patients where there is a need to do so — for example, if there is a shortage of the originally prescribed item and there are “arrangements in place with the original prescriber to allow such an approach”, it added.
David Webb, chief pharmaceutical officer for England, said: “This is great news for patients that community pharmacists will for the first time be able to prescribe NHS medicines across a range of health conditions as a nationally commissioned service.”
Pharmacy minister Stephen Kinnock commented: “Through our landmark ten-year health plan, we are making the most of our highly skilled pharmacists, while boosting access to services and giving patients more care right on their doorstep.”
Malcolm Harrison, chief executive of the Company Chemists’ Association, commented: “Independent prescribing is a generational opportunity to expand the care that pharmacies can provide to patients. This announcement is the first step in realising this opportunity. However, unlocking the full potential of independent prescribing will require continued ambition, collaboration and investment.
“The sector needs year-on-year above inflation increases in funding. Without this, patients will face continued reductions in access to medicines and access to pharmaceutical care. This will, in turn, place even greater pressure on the wider NHS,” he added.
Despite welcoming the contract, the Royal College of Pharmacy warned: “The shift to prescribing also brings greater clinical responsibility and time pressures. Its success will depend on sufficient investment in workforce training and capacity, protected time for professional development and system leadership, and strong clinical governance to ensure high standards of care.
“Without this, there is a risk that the ambition for prescribing in community pharmacy will not be fully realised.”
The Pharmacists’ Defence Association criticised the move, saying: “Without explicit commitments on workforce and operational models being part of the agreement, there is a real danger this expansion will be forced upon overstretched environments where one pharmacist is already expected to do everything at once, a scenario which is neither safe nor sustainable.
“A minimum two pharmacist model must be part of the solution if these services are to be delivered safely and effectively and should be a key feature of any agreement.”
The CPCF for 2026/2027 also includes a £200m uplift to the margin allowance, while the government will write off net contract (margin) over delivery earned up to the end of March 2026, “saving pharmacy owners up to £239m more in recovery — in efforts to stabilise the increasingly volatile medicines supply chain”, CPE said.
As part of the contract, the single activity fee will rise by 6p to £1.52, while pharmacies will be able to close for training for up to four hours per month, it added.
However, CPE said: “Despite acceptance of the final CPCF offer, we are not persuaded that sufficient investment is being made to enable the full and effective introduction of independent prescribing within the CPCF, given the workload, enhanced clinical responsibility, clinical governance and infrastructure requirements that it will entail.”
Janet Morrison, chief executive of CPE, said: “This was a very difficult decision for committee members, who know themselves how serious the situation is for pharmacy owners — as evidenced again and again, including by the independent economic review — and understand why some have called for more radical action.”
Morrison added that, as part of the deal, the government has committed to work with CPE on a solution, including “reform of the contract, funding and reimbursement model”.
“That work will be difficult and will take time, but refusing this deal would have put more pharmacies — and the services they provide to patients and communities — at greater risk. The committee was not prepared to take that risk,” she said.
In a statement, the National Pharmacy Association (NPA) criticised the contract, describing it as “broken beyond repair and not fit for purpose” and adding that it is calling for urgent talks with the health secretary.
Olivier Picard, chair of the NPA, said: “We hope this announcement will bring some immediate relief to pharmacies who are being hit by crippling new costs. However, we remain concerned that it does very little to close the £2.5bn funding gap that the NHS itself identified a year ago.”
“While this agreement contains some important measures and reduces uncertainty for the sector, it falls significantly short of the long-term investment and reform community pharmacy requires.”
